Anthony Joseph (1)

Shortlisted for the Republic of Consciousness Prize 2019

I was tempted just to say "it does what it says on the tin", but this is so much more than the rather prosaic title might suggest. I am no expert on calypso - the only one I vaguely know is the Victory Calypso "Cricket, lovely Cricket" that is variously attributed to Lord Kitchener, Lord Beginner or some combination of the two - it was popularised by Lord Beginner, and celebrated the West Indies first victory at Lord's, the home of show more cricket, in 1950.

Kitchener was born as Aldwyn Roberts, in rural Trinidad in 1922, and made his name as a calypsonian there before seeking his fortune in England on the famous "Empire Windrush". He spent 15 years in England, recording many of his songs there, and married a Mancunian girl before returning to Trinidad in the mid 60s. The author met him once, and he died in 1999.

The book takes a mixture of sources - interviews with people who knew Kitchener, newspaper reports and fictional linking and descriptive passages, and creates a rather wonderful atmospheric collage. It can be hard work to read at times, as there is plenty of Trinidadian dialect (much of which has French or Spanish roots), and its subject is not always very likeable, but there is some very interesting social history here, and Joseph clearly knows his subject very well, having spent years researching him. show less